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In April 1992 I received a call from Det. Insp. Jim Hutchinson asking for my help with a homicide case he was working in Caledon. Hutch and I had known one another for a number of years, having met when I did some undercover projects for him when he was a corporal in the London Drug Enforcement Section. When I’d first got back from (the FBI Academy in) Quantico, Va., Hutch and I had chatted in the office about my training and the types of cases that were appropriate for “unknown offender profiling.” He was anxious for me to take a look at this case as soon as I could. Hutch was working it jointly with the Toronto Homicide Squad, and asked that I meet him the next day at the scene of the crime.

An hour’s drive north of Toronto, Caledon is a predominantly rural area, boasting beautiful lakeside homes, sprawling country estates and quaint hobby farms. The property owned by Ian and Nancy Blackburn was just off a main regional highway on a quiet side road with farm fields and pockets of forests all around.

The Blackburns owned an upscale home on a quiet residential street in downtown Toronto, but their Caledon property consisted of a small unpretentious white clapboard house built overtop an original log building with a wraparound porch. It was tucked in a short distance from the road among a small grove of maple, elm and pine trees and an adjacent apple orchard. An unusual octagon-shaped barn, built in 1890, was situated a few hundred metres atop a small knoll overlooking the farmhouse. There was no grand gated entrance with electronic entry at this farm property, just a simple wooden gate secured with a length of chain and a padlock.

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Ian Blackburn’s sister, Susan, and her husband, Orville Osbourne, also owned a home in Toronto as well as the property next door in Caledon. These two 50-acre properties were willed to them by their father so they and their families could enjoy their own weekend retreats.

The Blackburns and Osbournes had heard media reports in recent weeks regarding area homes, vacant during the winter, being broken into. A variety of items had been taken, such as clothing, shoes, jewelry and coins. Long arms and handguns had also been stolen from a residence just south of their farms.

It appeared that the person responsible for these break and enters squatted at the properties for some time as well. He became known as the “House Hermit.”

Some pornographic magazines were left behind in these residences, as well as some other evidence that was very strange — packages of human feces wrapped neatly in paper or plastic bags, and urine collected in large plastic juice bottles. Most of the locations didn’t have any indoor plumbing operating in the winter but keeping the human waste over a period of time was at the very least bizarre behaviour. There were also pages and pages of what appeared to be lists of wartime planes, naval ships, submarines and weaponry, all written out by hand.

On one occasion a couple checking on their cottage were confronted at gunpoint by a man and forced to drive him to Toronto. During the drive to the city the man told them he was wanted on outstanding fraud charges. He wanted them to take him to their Toronto residence, but at a busy downtown intersection the husband stopped the car abruptly, told him to get out and he fled.

A few weeks later another vacation home was being checked by some friends of the owner. They were initially confronted at gunpoint by a man who then fled. He was similar in description to the man in the kidnapping case.

On Tuesday, April 7, 1992, Ian Blackburn, 54, decided to take some time off from his real estate business and drive up to spend the day at his farm. Ian was not seen at the farm, but several area residents, including his sister, brother-in-law and a patrolling OPP officer, did see his Cadillac parked in the farmhouse lane that day.

North Toronto couple Ian and Nancy Blackburn were found dead, locked in the truck of a car outside their St. Leonard's Ave home in 1992. David Snow was later convicted in their deaths.

Nancy Blackburn, 49, was a public health nurse who often worked at Toronto-area schools and volunteered at a homeless shelter. The Blackburns didn’t have any children. They rarely frequented their farmhouse in the winter as Nancy suffered from lupus, which made it difficult for her to be at the farm in the colder weather. But every spring Nancy braved the weather to attend Ian’s family’s annual “sugaring off ” party to enjoy the maple syrup made from their shared maple bush. It was not uncommon for Ian to come up early and check on the property and get it ready for Nancy’s arrival.

Later that afternoon back in Toronto, Nancy came home from work and was surprised Ian wasn’t yet home. She called some friends, trying to locate him, and expressed concern. Police would later retrieve telephone information that a three-minute call was made at 7:36 p.m. that night from the Blackburns’ farmhouse in Caledon to their Toronto home. Nancy did not show up to work the next day.

The Osbournes had a key to the Blackburns’ farmhouse and, when they didn’t see or hear from either of them for several days, they went in to have a look around. They found nothing amiss. There were two garment bags neatly placed on the bed in the downstairs bedroom. When Ian and Nancy didn’t attend the annual party on the weekend, the Osbournes contacted other relatives, friends and co-workers wondering if any had seen or heard from Ian or Nancy. No one had.

On Monday, April 13, the Osbournes called their son back in Toronto and he went to the Blackburns’ home to see if there was any sign of them or anything inside the house that would indicate where they’d gone. Nancy’s Chevrolet was parked in the driveway. Mail and newspapers were piled up outside the front door. Inside, everything seemed normal except he noticed his aunt’s purse was left open on her bed. He called his father to report back. Orville Osbourne then called the local OPP detachment to report Ian and Nancy missing.

At his father’s request the young man returned again that evening to see if the Blackburns’ cat was in the residence. It was thought that if their cat was still there then they hadn’t anticipated being away long. When he re-entered the home he found the cat in the basement. It apparently hadn’t been tended to for some time as it had no water or food in its bowls. He then decided to check inside his aunt’s car parked in the driveway with a spare set of keys he found. He noticed there was a tissue on the front seat that appeared to have blood on it. When he went on to check the trunk, he made a horrific discovery: Ian’s and Nancy’s bodies were inside.

Finding out the couple had been reported missing in Caledon, the OPP’s Criminal Investigations Branch was contacted by Toronto and Hutch assigned. By the time Hutch called me the initial 48 hours had come and gone and he was convinced he had a whodunit on his hands. Family members and friends had been cleared of any suspicion. No persons of interest in the investigation had been identified.

One of the advantages of being an OPP rather than FBI profiler was that many of my cases allowed me the ability to travel to the crime scene while it was still being held under authority of a search warrant. That was rarely possible for the FBI given the geographic area they covered and the size of their caseloads.

It was important that I wait until all forensic scene examinations were completed so that I didn’t contaminate the scene or evidence in any way. TV shows portraying profilers walking through crime scenes and picking up evidence to take a closer look are far from reality. Try walking into a real crime scene being processed by a forensic identification team (Ident) taking photographs and seizing evidence, and you’d get escorted out by the scruff of the neck.

Reviewing crime-scene photographs was a vital step in the process of crime-scene analysis and reconstruction, but the ability to see everything firsthand was the best. I also always took the time to have a look around the area to get a sense of the community in which the crime occurred. In this case, I drove up to Caledon early so that I could drive around the side roads and into some of the local towns.

Hutch was waiting for me at the farmhouse when I arrived and first showed me around back of the house where it appeared a window had been pried open with some type of tool like a screwdriver. Since the farmhouse had already been processed by the Ident, we were able to go through it together. Inside Hutch pointed out the window in the bedroom which was the possible entry point of an offender. He also showed me where the Ident had located some tiny smears of blood at the top of a set of stairs leading to a loft area and in the dining room area on a trap door leading down to the basement.

Although any forensic evidence was obviously important, my primary interest was being able to observe any indications of behaviour that occurred within the scene. In this case, what drew most of my attention was what I wasn’t seeing. The inside of the house didn’t indicate any type of altercation or commotion. There wasn’t any furniture knocked over or broken that would be consistent with a struggle. Everything was neat and tidy. Everything seemed to be in its place. Except for the two minute areas of blood on the floor, there was no evidence of any potential violence. Hutch and I went back outside and walked around the property and even took a look inside the eight-sided barn. There was nothing out of the ordinary there either.

Hutch was working closely with Doug Grady of the Toronto Homicide Squad. Hutch and I met with that team on the following Sunday afternoon at the Blackburns’ Toronto home. Again, there was no evidence of any significant altercation or violence inside this neat and tidy residence either. Although Nancy’s vehicle had already been removed from the scene for examination, I inquired as to the setting of the driver’s seat, thinking this would give an indication of the stature of the last driver. Apparently the seat had been positioned farther back than what would be consistent with Nancy’s stature.

I knew there wouldn’t be anyone in my office on a Sunday evening so I went there and just sat at my desk thinking and trying to reconstruct in my mind the various scenarios that could have occurred. Ian and Nancy were married for almost 25 years and were described as a loving and devoted couple with not an enemy in the world. Their two homes were located in low-crime areas. They didn’t appear to have anything in their background or in their current lifestyle that escalated their risk of becoming victims of a violent crime. They had many friends and no known enemies. The only peripheral issue affecting their susceptibility to becoming victims was the recent criminal activity in the surrounding area where the man had been breaking into unoccupied homes. There was also the one occasion where possibly the same guy had kidnapped the two victims and he’d had a handgun. This could not be ignored, but otherwise the Blackburns were low-risk victims.

It was impossible to know with any certainty where the Blackburns first encountered their killer. Although I didn’t know who made the phone call to Toronto from the farm, it seemed most likely that Nancy was summoned to the farm and drove up on her own. Unlike in TV shows, there are information gaps in these types of cases and reconstruction efforts will lack clarity in some areas. There was a lot of blurriness in this one, but what was most important to me was that Ian went up alone, and Nancy for some unknown reason was brought up to join him. The bad guy must have wanted her there. It seemed this crime had more to do about Nancy than Ian. The test results from the two blood-droplet samples from the house hadn’t come back yet. It was just a hunch but I was betting the blood would be Nancy’s. I picked up the phone and called Ron MacKay, a profiler with the RCMP, at home. I wanted our two minds on this one. He said he needed to wrap up a couple of things he was working on but would be down from Ottawa as soon as he could. Some profilers preferred to go it alone with their cases but I always preferred, when possible, to consult with Ron or other experienced officers who could bring different perspectives and challenge my opinions.

Two days later Ron and I sat down with Ron Gentle, who’d been assigned to assist Hutch with the case. He had the photographs from the Blackburns’ two residences and their autopsies. He also had a copy of the forensic pathologist’s report, including the findings and comments. As was our custom, I reviewed the reports as Ron MacKay went through the photos. Then we exchanged them. Over the next few hours our unknown offender profile emerged.

Nancy’s nude body was located farthest inside the trunk of her car. The autopsy report noted she had a small cut in her scalp over her left ear which could be expected to have produced at least some blood. There appeared to be blunt-force injuries and significant bruising all over her body. Ligature marks were found on her ankles, wrists, neck and mouth. The latter was consistent with a gag. The ligature on her neck likely caused petechial hemorrhages in her eyelids and eyes resulting from ruptured capillaries.

When Nancy’s body was examined internally the pathologist found deep bruising in her shoulder joints. In his opinion, her hands and feet had been bound together behind her back and then tied together. With Nancy’s fragile health, such tight bindings, obviously applied while she was alive, would have been very painful. There was no forensic indication that Nancy had been sexually assaulted, however, this didn’t necessarily mean that an assault hadn’t occurred, as women who are attacked and vaginally penetrated do not always present with a detectable injury. The pathologist’s opinion as to the cause of Nancy’s death was asphyxia by ligature strangulation.

Ian was fully clothed and during his autopsy his wallet was found in the back pocket of his pants. Similar to his wife’s wallet found in their Toronto home, it contained his personal identification and credit cards but no cash. Ian had a blunt-force injury on his neck and ligature marks on his right wrist, over his thighs and above the knees. He too had petechial hemorrhages in his eyelids and eyes resulting from ruptured capillaries and indicative of asphyxia. There was dried blood around his nose and bruising on his lower lip consistent with a blow or contact with a hard surface. There was a cluster of round symmetrical bruises on the right side of Ian’s face. It looked like his face had been repeatedly “stamped” with considerable force. The pathologist’s opinion was that the shape and size of these bruises was consistent with the muzzle of a gun. The pathologist’s opinion as to the cause of Ian’s death was asphyxia, but the possibility of ligature or manual strangulation or even a bag being placed over his head was a possibility.

Given the post-mortem lividity (settling of the blood in the tissues of the body after death) in their bodies, it was the doctor’s opinion that both had been placed in the trunk of the car after they died. Neither their ligatures nor Nancy’s clothing were found in the trunk of the vehicle or anywhere at the farmhouse or their Toronto home.

Given Nancy’s health, her injuries and the bindings applied, the pain she suffered would have been more than that of her husband. The forensic testing results of the minute droplets of blood from the farmhouse in Caledon were now known to be consistent with Nancy’s blood. That indicated Nancy was in the farmhouse at some point and her scalp injury likely caused the blood droplets.

In consideration of all of this information, Nancy was the primary victim. The main motive for the crimes was sexual and they would have been committed by a male offender. He appeared to be acting out a sexually sadistic fantasy and demonstrated a seeming rage against Nancy.

Most crimes are intraracial in nature and there was no indication that the offender would be anything other than white.

Age is never an easy opinion to give because the behaviour a criminal exhibits tends to be based more on emotional and mental maturity rather than chronological age. Crimes of interpersonal violence are usually committed by someone in the same age range as the victims. In this case it was lowered to 35 to 45 years of age because of the physical requirements of some parts of the crimes, such as placing the bodies in the trunk of a car. If he was outside that range, he would be older rather than younger given the maturity of the overall crime — meaning that it was well-executed and there was very little physical evidence left behind. Also, there was nothing indicative of a second person being involved in this crime.

The scenes in Caledon and Toronto reflected an offender who had immediate control of his victims. He was patient with whatever ruse was used to get Nancy to come to the farmhouse. He was neat and left little evidence behind, seemingly cautious and a planner. He was definitely what is described as an organized offender.

The farm was remote and isolated but the Caledon area would be in this guy’s comfort zone. He was knowledgeable and comfortable enough to find and stay in the Blackburns’ home for some time, so he may have known them or known of them.

They may or may not have known him. There would be some connection between them but one could only speculate what it might be.

With the bruising pattern on Ian’s right cheek consistent with the muzzle of a gun, a firearm was the way the offender controlled his victims.

Given the whole way this crime went down, along with our training and knowledge of FBI and other research into similar cases, Ron MacKay and I agreed that it seemed this offender would likely be asocial but functional and that other traits consistent with this personality would follow. He could be uncomfortable around people but would interact when necessary or in his best interest. He would be seen by others as quiet and reserved and likely seen by some as an eccentric. He probably had a poor self-image. His personal hygiene and the way he dressed would be average to below average. He seemed the type that would work with his hands but was likely unemployed at the time. He certainly didn’t appear to be commuting anywhere to work. He would have a criminal record, but likely only for minor offences like this break and enter.

This guy had the time to plan, develop and execute this crime and he didn’t appear to be accountable to anyone else. Therefore, he was likely single at the time, although he may have been married in the past. If he was married, his wife would have been considered by him to be inferior to him either mentally or physically. She was likely to be more of a mother figure than a wife.

He must have been very determined in his intentions, because he significantly raised his risk of being caught when he took Ian and Nancy to Toronto. He didn’t use his own car so perhaps he didn’t own one. If he did own one, it would just have been basic transportation, nothing flashy. It seemed more likely that he didn’t own a car and maybe didn’t even have a driver’s licence.

Ron MacKay and I agreed that sexual sadism seemed the strongest component in this crime. Roy Hazelwood had taught us both about sexually sadistic crimes and we were seeing that behaviour in the injuries to Nancy. We also had the knowledge of research conducted by the FBI and others into hundreds of these types of crimes and the men responsible for committing them. These attackers performed degrading acts on their victims that caused pain, suffering and humiliation. There would also have been psychological pain, not only for Nancy but also for Ian if he was present. What was so aberrant about it was that it was sexually arousing to the offender.

The first big break in the case came when searchers located a bag of garbage in a ditch about a hundred metres away from the farm. Inside was an empty can of beer, the same kind as cans found in the Blackburns’ farmhouse, as well as several sections out of a Toronto newspaper dated Dec. 27, 1991. The same old newspaper had been found in the farmhouse missing the same sections. The pages of newspaper found in the bag were wrapped around human excrement similar to what was found in some of the break and enters. There were also numerous pages of meticulously neat military equipment lists similar to those seized in the other incidents. There was now a strong link between the farmhouse homicides, the break and enters and the kidnapping that all occurred in the area.

Ident had been able to lift fingerprints from some of the cottage break and enters, however, there was no match to any known criminal when police searched AFIS, Canada’s Automated Fingerprint Identification System operated by the RCMP. We still didn’t know who he was but we did know that the “House Hermit” was a strong suspect in the murders. The abduction victims’ descriptions of the personality traits exhibited by their kidnapper were also consistent with those provided in the unknown offender profile in the Blackburn case. I was confident of two things: this was our guy and he was going to kill again if we didn’t catch him.

A few months after the Blackburns were murdered, police in Vancouver arrested a man named David Snow after he had abducted a female restaurant manager. He was found guilty of numerous charges in British Columbia and declared a dangerous offender. Later, he returned to Ontario and, six-and-a-half years after the Blackburns’ deaths, was found guilty of first-degree murder. Of the 25 character traits that Kate Lines and Ron MacKay had given to police, 23 matched Snow.

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